Problems and Solutions
by DSDragon
Summary: Response to a challenge posted by Nocte on the Crumbling Walls forum. WARNING! Due to the nature of the challenge, there IS character death! But don't worry! They get better. :
1. Introduction Through Chapter Three

Problems and Solutions

Word Puzzler (The one who actually WROTE the stuff): DSDragon

Idea Girl (The one with the plot): Blonde Moment #5,168 (DSDragon's Sister)

**Pairing:** Spike/Buffy (And, most likely, others as well)

**Rating:** Watch BtVS? You can read this.

**Disclaimer:** Joss is the creative super-genius, not me.

**Summary:** Response to a challenge posted by Nocte on the Crumbling Walls forum. WARNING! Due to the nature of the challenge, there IS character death! But don't worry! They get better. :)

**Spoilers:** Set after "Normal Again."

**Distribution:** Just let me know where it goes.

**Feedback:**Hate it in music, love it in writing. , or just review on this site.

**Special Thanks:** To all of you who have read and reviewed my other fics. I appreciate the feedback. To my sister, Blonde Moment #5,168, for showing me how cool Buffy really is in the first place (Corny, aren't I?), and for helping me get over my writer's block.

**Author's Note:** This fic may not turn out COMPLETELY serious. It will probably be more semi-serious, like my B/A X-Over fic "Huh?" I have LOTS of trouble writing TOO seriously.

Chapter I

The trio ran. They had given it their all; Warren with his gadgets and gismos, Johnathan with his spells, and Andrew with his demons. Yet, for all the trio's preparation and skill, the Slayer and her little band of super-and not-so-super-sidekicks was still victorious.

"That's it!" Warren was clearly angry at the turnout of the battle. "I'm sick of losing just because we lack the magical strength and physical muscle! We need support . . . Johnathan, we need a stronger magical ally. FIND ONE!"

"Well . . ." Johnathan was reluctant to help any evil scheme these days; especially after the incident with Katrina.

"NOW, Johnathan!" Patience was not one of Warren's strong suits.

"Al-Alright . . . There's s-s-someone I know . . . A really pow-powerful warlock . . . Has a sort of grudge against the Slayer or something." Johnathan reluctantly stuttered, leading the other two down the road.

After a few minutes, the Troika stood in the middle of a dark alley.

"I thought you were going to take us to this guy, Johnathan. This is just an alley." Warren was getting even more impatient than before.

"This is where he lives . . . for tonight, anyway. F-f-follow me." Johnathan replied, stepping forward, and promptly disappearing.

The other two followed warily. Their partner in crime had been a bit skittish lately, and they didn't know whether or not to trust the guy.

As they stepped to where he had disappeared, Andrew and Warren were awed to find what looked like a waiting room, instead of a dark, smelly alley.

There were couches and chairs to sit on, as well as a couple end tables. One couch had a yellow knit afghan draped across the back, as though a customer had forgotten it in the throes of addiction. On one end table, sat a glass of V-8 Juice, also forgotten. At the far end of the room, there was a door.

No one else was in the room, apparently, it was a slow night for the warlock who kept this waiting room.

The door opened, admitting a somewhat bulky man with long, dark hair and dark, spooky eyes.

He spoke, "Ah, Johnathan, what brings you here?"

Johnathan, remembering his last encounter with Rack a few months before, was not feeling very talkative. The warlock had treated the young adult much worse than Warren ever had.

Warren spoke up, seeing that Johnathan was a bit intimidated. "We hear you have a grudge against the Slayer. We need help getting rid of her. We'd like to propose an alliance of sorts."

"The Slayer? I have no quarrel with her. It is her witch friend I wish to see subjugated. But, no matter. This alliance could work for both parties. I will help you in your alliance." Rack was quick to agree.

The Troika and the Magic Dealer quickly got to planning, all the while watching out for intruders.

The next morning, Willow found something disturbing.

"Buffy?" she called from her laptop, which was perched on the dining room table. "I think you should see this."

"What is it, Willow?" the Slayer asked, coming in from the kitchen.

"I've hacked into Warren's computer . . . strange, you'd think he'd protect it better, being a genius and all . . . but, anyway, I've found his logs for after our battle last night . . . not so much with the good as we thought. Listen to this: _Defeated again. New ally promising. With more magical oomf, Slayer may be defeated yet._" she read from the screen.

"I don't like the sound of that. We've been trying to get rid of these guys for months, and they're still not giving up. And now, they have another magically inclined person on the team. We might need more firepower for the next time they decide to take us on. I'm calling Giles."

Buffy was clearly worried . . . she wouldn't consider calling her Watcher otherwise. He deserved a nice quiet life in his home country, but Buffy just didn't know what to do.

The Slayer picked up the phone, dialing the operator. After going through the necessary transfers to the British phone lines, Buffy finally dialed Giles' home near Bath.

After several rings, the eldest Summers heard a faint click, and a recorded voice began to recite its pre-ordained lines.

"Hello. You have reached Rupert Giles. I am currently not at home. If you would, please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If it is an emergency, Buffy, I'll be there as soon as I can after I get your message."

Clearly, the only emergencies worth being called so by the Watcher involved the woman he loved like a daughter. Buffy smiled at this. Every day, she found new evidence that, not only was life worth living, but also that she was loved by her entire circle of friends and family, no matter how far apart they might be. She left her message.

"Giles, it's me, Buffy. It's not really an emergency, but it could be soon. Warren, Johnathan, and Andrew, three guys from high school, have been trying to take over Sunnydale, and I've been able to stop them so far, but Willow's found evidence that they might be getting more magical help. Willow's staying off the magic since she got addicted, so we-**_I_**-need your help. We all miss you Giles. Please come soon. But don't worry too much just yet. We're okay for now, we just want to be prepared. 'Bye Giles. I'm sorry I was so angry before. I love you."

The Slayer described the situation as briefly as she could over the answering machine. Putting the telephone back in its cradle, Buffy sniffled back a few tears that had escaped her notice while she was speaking to the gadget on the other end. She really had missed Giles. It would be good to have him back for a little while. She only wished they hadn't parted on such bad terms.

Willow, noticing that the blonde had finished her phone call, and that her best friend looked as though she might cry, got up from her seat at the table to give her a hug.

"It's ok, Buffy. Giles understands. It's what he does. Everything will be ok." The witch comforted the Slayer before quickly changing the subject. Willow knew that Buffy didn't like to have to rely on others to be strong, so she tried to keep the comforting to a minimum.

"So, anything interesting in Buffyland? New shoes, new clothes, new boyfriend?" Buffy blinked revealingly, causing Willow to get excited.

"C'mon, dish. You've got a new boyfriend, don't you? You've been less out of it since the Glargle Gashminik incident, and I thinking maybe something like that would have helped you bring you more out of your shell."

_Now or never, Buffy. Either you tell her now, or Spike tells her later._ The Slayer really did not want to do this, but she couldn't let her best friend hear the news from the vampire. That would be like betrayal.

"Well . . . there was . . . a guy." She conceded.

"Was? As in past tense?" The witch needled.

"Yeah. I broke it off. I couldn't feel the way he wanted me to, so I used him, and it was killing me." _Ok, stall for time, Buff . . ._

"Oooh . . . doesn't sound very good. So, who was the whipping-boy?"

"Errr . . ."

"C'mon, Buffy. What's wrong? Is it someone I know?" Willow was getting curiouser by the second.

"It was Spike." The Slayer finally managed to say.

"Spike? But I thought you two were friends? I mean, you talk to him a lot, and when you said that whole thing about asking about stuff before the mental loopiness was so obviously not true. I know you like him, Buffy. What was the problem? Why couldn't you love him? And I know that's what you meant by feeling the way he wanted you to, so don't try and deny it." Willow was the perfect voice of reason.

Buffy, however, was not.

"Uhm . . . you know, he vampire, me Slayer? He evil, me not . . . Get it?"

"Buffy. You know Spike hasn't been evil for a while now, and he totally loves you. I saw that while you were gone. He was so broken up that he didn't even want to see the 'bot, much less hear its incessant commentary about his great bod . . . It's OKAY to love Spike, Buffy. If you do, I say go for it." Willow was really enthusiastic about Buffy's revelation.

"You know, that's what Tara said . . ." Buffy let slip.

"Tara knew?"

"Yeah . . . uhm . . . Don't be mad. I had to ask her a question about the spell that brought me back, since you aren't doing magic anymore, and when I got the answer, I was pretty upset about it." Buffy half-explained the situation.

"What happened? What did you need to know about the spell?" Willow was getting worried.

"Don't worry. I know now. Turns out that the spell just barely altered my body on a deep molecular level, and Spike's chip gets confused, so now he can hit me without pain to himself . . . Oh! But don't worry! I know he won't try and kill me . . . I kinda figured that out when we had that huge fight, brought the building down, and ended up sleeping together." Buffy quickly reassured her friend that the vampire would not harm her.

A light went on in Willow's head.

"Brought the building down? That old condemned building near the museum that was reported destroyed by unknown causes? That was you and Spike in a knock-down-drag-out pummel-fest? Wow! And I guess the UST between you two is now resolved-"

"-Many times over." The Slayer interrupted. Willow's eyes went wide.

"Ok, I may be gay, but I have to ask. How is he in bed?" The witch giggled the way she used to when dishing in high school.

"Totally amazing . . . ohmygod . . . You have no idea how amazing!" Buffy's eyes glazed over, and the two women heard the door close.

"What's amazing?" Xander asked.

"Uhm . . . uh . . . nothing." Willow tried to cover.

"Willow, don't worry. I was gonna tell Xander anyway, eventually." Turning to her other best friend, Buffy took a deep breath and let it out in one sentence. "I've been sleeping with Spike, but I broke it off a week before your wedding. Don't hate me." Her last sentence was a plea, an entreaty to not judge.

At first, Xander was blown away.

"How? . . . What? . . . How? . . . Hold on, _Déjà dit_ . . . When did I say that before? Oh yeah, I remember . . . the engagement spell. Please tell me it's another spell . . ."

"Nope. No spell, Xand. In fact, I think you saw us together once." Buffy coyly remarked.

"Saw you tog- . . . OH...MY...GOD!" Realization hit. "In the crypt . . . Spike acting weird . . . his earlobe was moving . . . He seemed a little distracted . . . OHMYGOD!" Xander started hitting the sides of his head, as though trying to knock something out through his ears.

Willow was clueless. "Huh?"

Buffy just stood smirking, trying not to laugh at her friend's discomfort.

"Bad image . . . bad non-image too . . . Invisi-Buffy boinking Nekkid Spike! Gah! I can't believe I didn't see it! Well, actually I can, but I can't believe I didn't know that's what it was!" Xander was a mite disturbed.

"Xander?" Buffy was starting to become a little self-concious.

"It's ok, Buff. I don't hate you. Heck, don't tell Spike this, but I don't hate him either. It's just fun to egg him on. Anyway, why'd you break up? It's so obvious to me now that you care about him . . . although, how I couldn't see it before is kinda beyond my comprehension." Xander's reply made a very happy Slayer.

"Well, you know what they say, hindsight is 20/20 while regular sight is far from it." Willow interjected.

Chapter II

"-evidence that they might be getting more magical help. Willow's staying off the magic since she got addicted . . ."

Dear God! Giles thought to himself as he listened to his Slayer's voice come over the machine. How could I have missed this? I should have taught Willow myself, encouraging her to use more discretion, rather than let her learn on her own! How stupid could I be?

As the Watcher berated himself, Buffy kept speaking.

"We all miss you, Giles. Please come soon. But don't worry too much yet. We're okay for now, we just want to be prepared. 'Bye, Giles. I'm sorry I was so angry before. I love you."

As he heard the Slayer hang up, Giles wanted to grab the phone and speak to her. But he wanted to do it in person; it would be better that way, he believed.

_Time to sober up._ The Watcher thought to himself.

He hadn't really been out. In fact, he hadn't been out much since he had returned to England. Giles was so distraught over Buffy's reaction to his departure that, when he finally got to his apartment, all he did before pouring a glass of scotch, was change the answering machine message. He hadn't done much more than drink and research since. He hadn't left the apartment at all; he had his groceries delivered from the market by a neighbor's teenaged son.

So, when Buffy called asking for help, Giles rejoiced at the reason to return home-for that's what Sunnydale was to him now. Home.

Meanwhile, in Sunnydale, life went on as usual. Well, as usual as the usual that is not.

Xander was still sensitive about the Anya subject, Willow was still a recovering magic addict-although, she had gotten back some of the self-confidence the others had discovered in her in high school.

Buffy was giddy-yet terrified-about everything that had, was, or would happen that year. She was giddy because, well, her two best friends too the news of her latest . . . indiscretions . . . rather well, considering their history of maxi-wigs over Buffy's love life and life-altering choices.

Dawn was happy to have everyone-well, almost everyone-together and on speaking terms.

Anya was still nowhere to be found, although not for lack of trying on anyone's part. The gang had put out a search party shortly after Buffy's experiences with the mental hospital in her head, and had not turned up anything. Clearly, if Anya wanted to be found, she'd have been found by now.

Tara was beginning to warm up to Willow again, and, for them, all seemed right with the world at present.

And Spike? Well, no one had told him anything yet, so Spike was worried about what had transpired after their last battle with the Troika.

It was in this state that Buffy found the Peroxided King of Harsh Truths.

"Spike, what's wrong?" was her opening line.

"Same old song, Slayer." Spike paced nervously, obviously worried about the worst. "No News. I haven't heard a word of anything since the Dweebs of Doom got up to their little tricks again!"

Buffy was getting agitated-and a little dizzy-from all of Spike's pacing.

"Will you please sit down?!? You're making me feel all washing-machine spin cycle-y here."

"Oh. Sorry." He plopped down into his ratty old armchair, waiting for the Slayer to continue.

"Warren is up to something. Willow hacked into his computer and found his logs."

"But isn't-" he was about to say "But isn't he always up to something?"

"-Don't interrupt." When the vampire looked appropriately cowed, the Slayer continued.

"They've got a new ally or something. The log said something about 'More magical oomf,' so we know there's gonna be trouble since Willow isn't all with the spell casting anymore, and Tara can hold her own, but not against anything even nearly hell-god-ishly powerful.

So, I called Giles, and, knowing him, whether I said not to worry or not, he'll be on the next plane to LA after he gets my message." Finished with her planned speech, Buffy took a breath, waiting for the vampire's reply.

"And?" was the only thing Spike had to say.

"What?" The Slayer seemed to be purposely obtuse.

"Oh, come on, Buffy! You know that's not all the stuff I want to hear about!" Spike would not play her games any longer.

Buffy seemed to think for a minute, scrunching up her nose coquettishly.

"Hmmm . . . You want to hear me say I need your help?" Then, teasingly, "Or maybe you want to hear me say that I want your bod?"

A beat.

"Or how 'bout I tell you what my friends said when I told them about us?"

The vampire's expression brightened. Jackpot. He got up and stalked over toward the Slayer. Like a great jungle cat, he stalked her. Slowly, ever so slowly, he closed the gap between them.

"Just tell me one thing." He whispered sensuously into the shell of her hear, kissing the tender spot behind it lightly, then trailing his lips over the column of her neck.

"Anything." Buffy panted, her heartbeat speeding up. _God, he's good._

"In five words or less, were they OK with it?" He teased, stopping his lips.

"Even better than I expected." was the whimpered answer as the Slayer gave into the vampire's ministrations, thinking aloud, "God, I missed this."

"You have no idea." Spike returned, thinking the same thing.

Later that evening, Giles stepped onto the pavement near the Magic Box. Confused, the Watcher noticed that the store was closed and no one was inside researching.

_That's funny. I would have though they'd be researching ways to beat the most recent crisis . . . Where is everyone?_

Puzzled, Rupert Giles paid the cabby and walked toward the Summers' house.

"I'll get it!" Dawn yelled from the stairway as there was a knock at the door. Quickly, she bounded down the last few steps and ran to the door, opening it to a familiar face.

"Giles!" the Key exclaimed, giving the older man an enthusiastic teen-aged hug and inviting him in.

"Hello, Dawn. Where is everybody? And why is the Magic Box closed?" Giles asked as he sat down, smiling at the girl's warm welcome.

"Uhm . . . Well, Xander and Willow are here talking about the latest oogly-booglies, Tara's got a class right now, and Buffy's at Spike's. As for the Magic Box . . . Xander better tell you about that. I really don't want to talk about it. He probably won't either, but he might tell you, seeing as it's your store and all." Dawn answered, yelling for the others.

"Xander! Willow! Giles is here!"

"Giles!" The witch gave the Watcher a hug as she came into the room, Xander on her heels.

"Hello, Giles." Xander said.

Giles was worried. Usually, Xander had something a bit more . . . irritating to say while greeting him. Noticing the pained expression on the young man's face, Giles resolved to have a talk with Xander later.

"Hello, Willow, Xander. How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Been four months without magic and still going!" Willow was as perky as she had been in high school. Giles had missed her perkiness the last year or so. That was another thing he should have noticed when it was right in front of his face. He resolved to talk to Willow as soon as this crisis was over as well.

"That's wonderful, Willow. I'm proud of you." was all he said at the moment. Willow beamed.

"And you, Xander? How are things going with you and Anya?"

Xander winced.

"I don't think now would be a good time to talk about that, Giles." Willow broke in, seeing her friend's discomfort.

"Ah yes, I see. Certainly." Giles also was sensitive to the younger man's change in demeanor.

"Down to business then. But before we do anything, someone should go get Buffy, I think."

Xander squirmed. Dawn looked around the room at anything, or anyone but Giles. Willow bounced on the balls of her feet, looking at the ceiling.

Giles was confused.

"What's going on then?" he asked.

The other three looked at each other, trying to pass the buck. Finally, the test of wills won, the weakest spoke.

"Giles, there's something you should know . . . about Buffy." Xander started.

Chapter III

"Oh, dear Lord." Giles mused as he listened to the three young people tell their tale.

"I know exactly what you mean, G-man." Xander answered, shaking his head.

"How many times have I told you never to call me that, Xander?" The Watcher groaned, taking his glasses off and wiping them with a handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket.

The girls giggled in the background at the familiar exchange.

"Aw, come on you guys, it's really not _that_ bad that Buffy's been sleeping with Spike." Willow began, only to cut herself off when she noticed the men's glares.

"And you know," Dawn cut in, "he really does love her. If anyone can make Buffy happy, it's Spike."

Grudgingly, the Watcher nodded his head. "Yes, I do know that. I just wish I had more time to brood over it, but right now, we've got a semi-crisis on our hands, and someone really needs to get Buffy."

Thinking a bit, the older man added, "And Spike as well." He sighed, noticing the looks on the girls' faces.

"I'll go!" Dawn was quick to volunteer.

"No!" Xander, Willow, and Giles said in unison. One never knew what one would walk in on when going to fetch two people of opposite genders from the same place.

Dawn pouted. "Why not?" Oddly enough, she didn't get it.

"Uhm, Dawnie . . ." Willow started, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" The teenager sulked, looking down at the silver medallion she wore around her neck and playing with the chain.

"Are you sure you want to go, after what we've all just finished discussing?" One thing could be said for the magic addict-she had tact in spades.

A lightbulb went on in Dawn's head. Her eyes widened while her cheeks began to redden.

"Ohhhh!" She replied simply. "I definitely wouldn't want to walk in on that! I mean, it's romantic and everything that they're finally together, but I don't think I need to see it." Finally, the "hormonal time bomb" got the picture.

"Which brings us to the question of, who _will_ be going?" Xander broke in.

The two women, and Giles, stared at Xander expectantly.

"What?" The Zeppo asked, clueless, as usual.

The plan was almost finished, Warren mused, walking back to the trio's hideout.

As he walked in the door, Andrew and Johnathan looked up hungrily.

"It's about time!" Andrew said. "Give it here!"

"I'm starving!" Johnathan quipped from behind the over-enthusiastic Andrew.

"Yeah, yeah." Warren said, handing over the pizza. Sometimes, they seemed like fledgling vampires, how hungry they could get! _Teenagers!_ Warren thought to himself.

"What's the deal with the plan now?" He asked, biting into a slice of hand-tossed hawaiian.

"R-R-Rack was here earlier." Johnathan began, stuttering nervously around his plain cheese slice. "Everything is in place. We'll be all ready tomorrow night."

Andrew had the decency to swallow his slice, which was covered with mushroom and olives.

"The Slayer's going down." He said.

"Oh, no you don't, Slayer!" Spike backed away from Buffy, keeping his hands as far away from the petite blonde as he could.

"_Do unto others as you would have them do unto you_, Spike. C'mon, it's the Golden Rule. It's even in the Bible!" The Slayer whined, holding the handcuffs in front of her.

"And since when have I followed anything written in the Bible?" The vampire teased.

_Darn._ He had her there.

"Good point." The Slayer came up with a plan. "I guess I'll just have to torture you then."

"Really?" Spike looked a little too hopeful.

"Yeah." The Slayer had a wicked grin on her face that the vampire didn't like too much. "Really."

"Uh oh. What kind of torture would that be, pet?" Spike gulped.

Buffy quickly closed the gap between she and Spike. "Tickle torture!" She giggled, tickling the bleached vampire mercilessly.

Spike laughed, almost painfully. "Stop! Oh, stop!" He managed to get out between laughs, holding his hands up to try and ward her off.

"Gotcha!" Buffy declared triumphantly, snapping the cuffs on her lover's wrists.

"Now that's just evil." Came a voice from the doorway.

"Xander!" Buffy yelped, jumping in startlement. "Don't do that!"

Xander looked at the two blondes a moment, puzzled.

"Somehow, I thought there'd be less clothes when I got here." He mused.

"Yeah well, we didn't really get that far . . . Buffy wanted payback." Spike gestured, indicating his cuffed wrists.

"I can see that." Xander said. "But right now, Buffy, would you please un-cuff Spike? Giles is waiting at your house."

"Oh! Really? That soon? I told him not to worry!" Buffy was a little . . . frustrated . . . with the interruption.

"Yes, really. C'mon Buff. You can play with your toy vampire later." The brunette smirked, as said vampire glared at him.

"Hey now! Still in the bloody room!" Spike protested indignantly.

Buffy chastely kissed him on the lips. "Don't worry, Spike, at least you're _my_ toy vampire." She said, softening the blow with a smile.

"That's the best part." Was the answer.

"Uhm, guys? Could you maybe not do this now? I think I'm gonna be hurling any second if you don't stop." Xander interrupted.

Buffy sighed, Spike growled softly.

"Oh alright. Spike, where are the handcuff keys?" Buffy relented.

"In the wooden chest, taped to the inside of the lid."

The Slayer quickly found the keys, freeing the vampire.

"Well, let's go." She said, once the cuffs were safely put away.

The Slayer and her lover followed Xander out the door.

"Wait." Buffy said as they exited the crypt.

"What now?" Xander said, sighing.

"Did you just call me evil?"

"What could be taking them so long?" Willow paced the living room of the Summers' house, getting more antsy by the minute. Xander had left half an hour ago, and everyone knew it was only a two-minute walk to Spike's crypt . . . goodness knew they had all been there before.

"Well, maybe they had to get, uhm, you know . . . dressed." Dawn replied.

Giles and Willow looked at the girl, astonished that she would say something like that aloud. They all knew what the vampire and the Slayer were probably doing, but neither had mentioned anything that might need doing in order for them to get to the house.

"What?" Dawn replied to their silent looks. "You know what they were probably doing, and so do I. It's not like it's not obvious they'd need to get everything back together if they were interrupted." Curiously, the teenager was the voice of reason in this situation . . . the virgin teenager, to be exact.

The two adults in the room were spared a reply as Xander walked in, Buffy and Spike in tow.

"So, what's the what?" Buffy began, walking to her watcher and giving him a heart-felt hug.

"Hey Giles. I missed you so much." She whispered into his ear.

"I missed you too, Buffy. And I love you too." He replied, just as softly.

Buffy pulled back, a small smile on her lips.

"Let's get down to business, shall we? So, what's the plan?" Began the Slayer, rubbing her hands together enthusiastically.

After Tara arrived, the Scoobies got down to business.

"Alright, we don't know what the trio have been planning, but we do know that it will be big." Began the Watcher, a rough plan forming in his mind.

"We need to be prepared for everything. Tara, you and I will handle the magic end of the deal, while Buffy and Spike do most of the hand-to-hand combat. Willow and Xander, you help Spike and Buffy in the combat department. Dawn-"

"I know, I know . . . stay here, and don't invite any dead people in." The teenager declared dejectedly.

"Well, yes . . . quite right." The Watcher replied, aware that the teenager was a bit disappointed.

"Hmmm . . ." Buffy thought to herself. "Do you really want to help, Dawnie?"

The girl nodded her brunette head, hair swinging about her face.

"We could use a lookout. Maybe you could find a high place and yell at us if something happens." The Slayer thought carefully.

"Really?" Her sister asked, hopefully. "You don't think it's too dangerous?"

"Sure, it is." Buffy answered.

"But, eventually, you're just gonna help whether I tell you not to or not, so I figure I might as well approve of something. But you stay away from the main battle, you hear? I won't have you endangering yourself more than you will as lookout this time. Maybe later, Spike and I can teach you some self-defense, but we don't have time before this thing blows up in our faces. And, I can't spare anyone to stay here with you while we go out and fight, so I think it's kind of pointless to leave my little sister unprotected." The Slayer hugged her younger sister, wishing she didn't have to bring her along, but knowing that the Key would be careful once she saw the battle itself.

Everyone else was surprised that Buffy was letting her sister have a part in the battle.

"Are you sure you want to let her come, Buffy?" Giles asked, concerned.

"No, I'm not. But if I leave her unguarded, who's to say that Warren, Andrew, or Johnathan won't get to her before we get to them? And we do need someone to watch from above, just in case there's an opening, or a danger we can't see from the ground." Buffy answered. "And besides, she's fifteen now. I think she's old enough to learn to defend herself. I mean, I was Slaying at fifteen-not that I enjoyed it-and I know she'll be careful." Buffy pointedly glared at her sister at the word "careful."

The human Key nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely careful. I won't do anything that stupid or reckless . . ." The young girl bowed her head, remembering the last battle she had seen up close and personal.

". . . Not after Glory."


	2. Chapters Four Through Seven

Problems and Solutions--Chapters IV thru VII

Chapter IV

The scoobies had been patrolling together every night for the past week, and still there was no sign of Warren, Andrew, or Johnathan.

"It's a good thing this is Spring Break at school." Dawn quipped on the seventh night. "Or else the principal, and not to mention Mrs. Kroger, would be really not happy with the amount I've been sleeping late lately.

"Oh yeah. An' I bet they'd be real happy with you riskin' your neck, too." Spike replied.

Xander broke in, peeking around the corner.

"Don't look now, guys, but I think we just hit Battlestations."

Buffy quickly whispered orders to her friends.

"Dawn, hurry, climb to that roof and when you get there, do that protection spell Tara gave you.

Giles, Tara, find somewhere safe and start with those spells.

Xand, Willow, Spike, get ready."

As Dawn went to leave, Spike stopped her, holding out his duster.

"Here Niblet. Don't want you to catch a chill standing out in the night air up high like that."

The Key beamed. Spike had never let her wear his duster before. She was happy to have the priviledge as she quickly climbed the fire escape of the building Buffy had indicated.

Giles and Tara snuck around behind another building within eyesight of the small army they were to fight.

After taking a look around the corner herself, the Slayer summed up the situation to the other three fighters.

"Okay, other than 'los tres nerdos,' there's about thirty vamps. Those are the easy ones, since they seem to be all fledglings.

There are also three Fioral demons, a few Polgara, and this one weird-looking guy with long, dark hair."

"Weird looking? How so?" Willow asked, suspicious.

"Well, it looks like his face is made of old leather, and his eyes look really funny." Buffy quickly whispered back.

"Let me see." Was the redhead's reply.

Quickly, she peeked around the corner, looking for the man her best friend had described.

. . . And immediately jumped back, her fears realized.

"It's Rack. He's their new ally." She managed to gasp, causing the other three to stare at her incredulously.

"Ok, you all know what to do. Just treat it like one massive patrol . . . with one exception. Stay as FAR AWAY from Rack as possible. I'm sure you all know enough about him for that to make sense."

Not the best pre-battle pep-talk, but it got the job done.

Spike couldn't help but think about the last speech Buffy had given.

_"Not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, now is it?"_

_"We few, we happy few."_

"We band of buggered." The vampire muttered to himself, picking up his favorite battle axe and following the Slayer and her friends to take advantage of what little surprising elements they had.

From her vantage point atop an abandoned apartment building, Dawn watched the battle preparations.

_What's taking them so long?_ She wondered to herself.

She had forgotten how long it took for another battle this large to start, and was getting impatient.

After many minutes, she saw the streetlights shining off of her best friend's bleached head as he and three others moved rapidly into the open, weapons swinging, flying, or just plain poking.

Hugging Spike's coat around her a little tighter, the Key watched over her loved ones like a hawk.

The battle had been going on for some time, and Dawn was still watching as it unfolded, second-by-second.

She wasn't bored. A battle, no matter who is watching, can definitely NOT be described as boring; there was simply too much going on for it to be described as boring.

No, Dawn wasn't bored, but what she was feeling had a lot of boredom's traits.

Dawn watched events happen before her eyes, knowing nothing about strategy or fighting. She watched, hoping to be able to keep her loved ones safe through to the end of the battle.

Focusing, she trained her eyes on Xander, making sure he was okay.

Down below, Xander, unaware that he was Dawn's focal point that second, had thrown down the crossbow he had started with at the beginning of the battle. He instead held a super-soaker filled with Holy Water cradled in one arm, with a cross in the other hand. With deadly efficiency, Xander shot the Holy Water in the eyes of any fledglings in his vicinity. If one came too close, Xander shoved the crucifix in its face, so it would back off enough for the super-soaker to be effective.

Xander could handle himself just fine.

Dawn turned her attention to Willow.

Willow, having been out of the hand-to-hand practice for a while, was a little awkward with the stake she used.

Almost as if she were mentally apologising for just being there to ruin their night, Willow clumsily dusted the fledglings Xander had injured before they could recover their sight.

_She's a little awkward, but she'll be fine._ Was Dawn's verdict as she looked over the battle-strewn asphalt.

Noticing everything on the ground below her, Dawn summed up the enemy's losses so far.

Buffy and Spike had managed to kill the Polgara demons and were making short work of the last two Fiorals. About half of the vampires remained, soon to be cut down to a third.

The Trio of Geeks had long since run away, she remembered, but their magically powerful ally was still there. Although he didn't seem to be doing anything. In fact, Dawn noticed that it looked as though he had done the same type of protection spell on himself that Dawn had done.

She wondered why he wasn't doing anything, but decided to be thankful for small favors.

Without magic to fight, Giles and Tara had taken up weapons and were helping in the physical combat department.

Giles, sword in hand, kicked the nearest fledgling, sending it away so that he could deal with another, easily lopping its head off. He wasn't every strong, but what he lacked in muscle, Giles sure made up for in skill, Dawn noticed. She watched as the watcher parried attacks from the few fledglings he fought, using his free hand and his feet for offensive attacks.

Dawn mused that, not only would she love for her sister and Spike to teach her hand-to-hand defensive moves, but that she would also like for Giles to teach her to at least handle some basic weaponry.

Snapping back into focus, Dawn noticed that Tara had joined Willow in the staking, using a tree branch as a makeshift stake, since she had apparently lost the one she always carried with her.

Noticing that all the demons were now dead, Dawn watched as Buffy and Spike joined in the vampire fight.

The Key watched in awe. They were amazing. Sure the others got the job done with teamwork, but the brunette couldn't help but stare as her sister and her best friend fought the last of the vampires. They had to be exhausted, after fighting the demons, but still, their movements were fluid and graceful.

Dawn realized that, in a battle with so many vampires, Buffy must be using the Slayer sense her older sister had told her about. The Slayer certainly didn't seem to be _looking_ for the next vampire to kill after she had dusted one.

In horror, Dawn saw her sister turn around, stake raised, just as Spike came up behind her.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as she screamed, "Buffy, _NO!_" only to realize that it was too late. She watched, black duster flapping in the breeze that had just picked up, as her sister stared helplessly into the stormy, confused, blue eyes of her lover as he crumbled to dust.

For Buffy, time stopped. She fell to her knees as the tears began to fall silently down her cheeks and she noticed where they had been fighting the whole time.

_The factory. This is the factory. One of the first places he lived here back when I really was trying to kill him. And now, I have, and I didn't even want to! I didn't want to . . ._ She thought, repeating the last sentence to herself. _I didn't want to . . . I didn't want to . . . I didn't want to . . ._

Catatonic, Buffy looked at the place where her vampire had stood only seconds before. She didn't move when some of his ashes blew away in the breeze.

Around her, the battle died down. The last vamp had turned to dust, and all that was left of the enemy was Rack.

Rack, although he hadn't done anything the entire battle, was looking smug. Xander and Willow just glowered at him until, laughing, Rack recited a teleportation spell and disappeared.

Looking around at their victory, Xander remarked, "That was fun." He hadn't noticed the Slayer on her knees crying.

Giles, also not noticing, said, "Well, we did kill all the demons and vampires. If everyone is accounted for, I think we should all go home."

But Willow had noticed, and, walking over, asked her friend what was wrong.

Buffy didn't answer.

At the sound of the red head's question, Xander walked over, noticing the dust the Slayer was kneeling in, he knew whose dust it must be. Speechless, for once, all that the "Glorified Bricklayer" could say was, "Schpa_doin_kel!"

Willow, a little slower, finally saw the dust. Her thoughts were a little more organized than Xander's however, and she asked, "Where's Spike?" as Dawn came screaming and sobbing as she went to hold her sister.

_**Author's Notes: In my notes for this story, between the very FIRST scene, and just before the battle when they count up how many they're fighting, I only had ONE SENTENCE. "Giles comes back." How do you like the way I made it stretch for 2 and 7/8 chapters?**_

_**I've decided this is going to be my fic for all of re-run hell. Just like "Stranger Things Have Happened" was my fic for the No-Spoiler Zone between "Wrecked" and "Gone" (I actually finished that one a few hours before "Gone" aired, and I'm hoping to finish this one before the next ep airs.).**_

_**Anyway, thanks for all the reviews so far, and I hope to get back up to speed soon, seeing as how I've been sick since last Wednesday.**_

_**I made Spike give his coat to Dawn because, well, it would be a shame to make it be dust like that.**_

_**Oh, and, Nocte, that's all the fight you're gonna get, 'cause I'm really bad at blow-by-blow stuff, so I'm making that my included fight scene to satisfy the challenge requirement, ok?**_

_**Thanks to Annalore for reminding me that WordPerfect has different html tags than the norm. I've fixed all of the previous chapters to this fic (I've decided to leave my other fics the way they are... it's too much work to fix them.), and in doing so, unfortunately lost the author's notes to the previous chapters. (It has to do with different versions and files of each chapter which were deleted once they were uploaded... long story.)**_

_**Oh, and Nos? Guess where I got the coat idea? Yup. You! I read that fic you wrote, and I guess my subconcious reminded me that his coat would dust with him 'cause I had read your fic, and I REALLY didn't want that to happen. Plus, I wanted a reason for Buffy to be jealous of Dawn for a change. :-p**_

Chapter V

Later that week, the Scooby Gang held a memorial service in the home of the vampire they had grown to . . . not hate.

They had to wait a few days for Buffy to realize that Spike would have wanted her to "go on living" instead of staring off into space, trapped in her own mind. Once she snapped out of it and put on her resolve face, everyone agreed that their ally--and somewhat-friend-deserved some sort of memorial.

Anya had returned the day before, and after hearing of Spike's death and listening tearfully to Xander's "empty hole that I dug" speech, decided to stay with the gang.

"We should say something." Willow broke the silence of the solemn group. "He would've hated to go out knowing no one said anything. He always seemed too hyper for silence. It seems wrong not to say something." The jittery redhead cut herself off when she realized she was babbling.

"Right. Um . . . Buffy, why don't you start, then we'll each say something." Giles suggested as everyone shifted on their feet in the cool of the vampire's tomb.

"No." The Slayer surprised everyone. "Dawn should go first. She-out of all of us-never hated him. It's not right for one of us to speak first."

"Al-Alright . . . Dawn?" Giles turned to the sniffling brunette who had her arms wrapped around her sister.

The Key bravely let go of her sister and stepped forward.

"He never treated me like I was just a kid. He was like a big brother to me. The kind of big brother who, although not really all good, would lay down his life to protect those he loved." She said this, placing a pink rose to her lips and setting it on the ratty cushion of Spike's favorite chair, along with the urn holding as much of the blonde vampire's ashes as the group could collect before the wind blew too much of him away. "I'll miss him as much as I missed Buffy; as much as I still miss Mom." The girl finished, the tears falling again.

Giles spoke next.

"I, for one, will never forget the vampire who was chained in my bathtub. Who would have thought that someone who taunted everyone to distraction could survive in the same town as Buffy for so long? I certainly did not.

I used to think that Spike's capture and chipping by the Initiative was the Powers' way to make him able to serve a higher purpose. Now, I find myself wishing that it could be true, but knowing it can never be." The Watcher respectfully placed a yellow rose with Dawn's on the chair.

"I'll always be grateful," Tara began, "that he punched me in the nose." The blonde witch placed her yellow rose with the others as everyone let out subdued chuckles, then silenced.

Anya spoke. "I liked Spike. He talked to me like I didn't always say the wrong things, 'cause sometimes, he said the wrong things too. That's why I never complained when I found some Burba Weed missing occasionally. I purposely ordered extra for him."

The ex-demon laid her yellow rose on the chair as everyone, in different states of shock, contemplated the first instance they had heard of that Anya hadn't been greedy.

Willow was next. "He always understood everyone. He could see right through them, and knew exactly what needed to be said. He never sugar-coated the truth, just told it like it was. That, and he was always nice to me, even when he was trying to kill me. It was kinda weird at the time, but it was true." Again, the redhead babbled a bit, before setting her rose--another yellow-on the chair.

"I don't know when it happened," Xander began, "but, lately, of all the vampires I've ever met, Spike was the only one I had grown to at least not hate. At most, he was a friend, but he was definitely a great ally. One I'd trust with my life." The construction worker's voice became choked as his yellow bloom joined its mates on the furniture piece.

Now it was Buffy's turn.

Giving her sister a quick hug, the Slayer stepped forward, kissing the crimson rose she held in her hands, carefully avoiding the thorns as she sadly placed it on top of the others with Mr. Pointy, the stake given to her by Kendra, another important person in Buffy's life. Everyone who had met the other Slayer knew how important Mr. Pointy was . . . That Buffy would leave it with Spike's remains spoke volumes.

Quietly, so the others almost had to strain to hear, the petite blonde spoke.

"I never got to tell him I love him."

A few weeks had gone by since the group had gathered in the crypt, and life went on-a little less enthusiastically than before.

Buffy, although not a complete zombie, was noticeably less lively than she had been-even after being ripped out of what she thought was Heaven.

Every night, she would patrol. And, every night, her rounds ended outside the deceased vampire's former home.

She couldn't bring herself to go inside; she feared a breakdown if she did. Instead, she left fresh flowers outside the door once a week. The other six nights, she just sat on the nearest tombstone, silently willing the door to open and the vampire-nay, man-that she loved to come stalking toward her in all his predatory glory and kiss her passionately, saying how much he had missed her.

Some days, she would contemplate begging the witches to find a way to bring him back, but would immediately curtail her train of thought; she couldn't put him through the trauma of coming back seeing everyone still here acting awkward around him-like they still did with her sometimes. No, she wouldn't do that, no matter whether he had been sent to Hell with the many other vampires she had slain, or not.

He had been doing his best to be good. There was a chance that, although he probably wasn't wishing for it, the Powers That Be had decided not to send him to Hell. Buffy also didn't act on her impulses to get him back on the very slim chance that he'd be pulled from the same peaceful place that she had been. And so, the Slayer made her melancholy rounds every night, wishing he might somehow, through some unknown miracle, return to her on his own.

Dawn was in just as bad shape as her sister, although she showed it differently.

The Key knew that Spike's death had been an accident, but she couldn't help resenting the hand that held the stake. Every so often, Dawn would unexpectedly snap, yelling at anyone within range over the smallest of mistakes. Buffy was usually the one who caught the brunt of the teenager's wrath, but no one was immune.

She would not part with the vampire's coat for more than a few hours, either. Dawn, when she was too sad to be angry, would clutch the leather to her, inhaling the familiar, comforting scent of her best friend and protector. She never took the coat to get cleaned, for fear that the smell and comforting already-worn feel of it would go away once the duster was cleaned.

The rest of the gang was a little less subdued, but still grieved in their own ways.

Xander and Anya had agreed to start trying to date again, but were taking it slow, so Anya found herself a place of her own, only seeing her ex-fiancé, almost-husband, at Scooby meetings and their occasional dates. Although they were happy to be seeing each other again, they still missed Spike.

The last time the pair had broken up, Spike had been there. Sure, he was still mostly evil at the time, but he had helped the young man and ex-demon realize what they had together in the time-honored tradition of Making the Guy Jealous. Xander had found the vampire "flirting" with Anya at a party, and, although it wasn't all roses and kittens for the pair, Anya and Xander had stayed faithful to each other ever since. Not even the promises of D'Hoffryn and Arashmahar could keep Anya from Xander anymore.

Willow missed the vampire's insight, wishing she could ask Spike to help her with Tara troubles. The peroxide blonde's usually-harsh truths were just what she needed to help her through her addiction and re-building of her relationship with the blonde witch. No one else knew how to help her overcome the weaknesses and timidity she felt when Tara wasn't around. Spike had known about overcoming weakness-he had done it before too-and would have told the redhead what she needed to hear to get herself back on her feet and with the woman she loved. But Spike wasn't there, so she had to get Tara back on her own.

Tara was proud of Willow's accomplishments so far, but she too missed the vampire that everyone had gotten used to having around.

No matter how slow and careful they took things, everyone still had somewhat-fragile emotions periodically.

No matter how strong they had grown in the past few weeks, however, nothing could have prepared them for the visitor they received one afternoon.

Dawn heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" She called to whomever else was in the house.

When she saw who stood on the other side of the threshold, Dawn screamed.

"No . . . please, Dawn. Don't be afraid . . ." Faith tried to stop the girl's screams. "I don't want to hurt you . . . I'm on parole, and Wesley sent me to tell you all about a prophecy. Please, Dawn . . . please stop screaming." The younger Slayer almost begged as Buffy and Willow came running to the Key's aid.

"Well, you can't really blame her, Faith." Buffy said, crossing her arms and staring coldly at the other Slayer. "The last time she saw you, you were trying to kill me in my living room."

Although Dawn hadn't really been around then, she still remembered the crazed Slayer who had once been her sister's friend. The monks had been very thorough, if a bit rushed.

"I know." Faith confirmed, crestfallen. "I know you can't forgive me or trust me right now, but please know that I am truly sorry for all I've done to you. I won't be offended if you call LA to make sure that I really am here on Wesley's orders. I deserve to not be trusted."

"You deserve a whole lot more sinister punishments than that, but I'll hold off until later so that you can prove to me that you truly are repentant. I'll skip the phone call for now, but if I hear anything that sounds even remotely false, I won't hesitate again. Got it?" Buffy laid down some ground rules before letting the other Slayer come in and sit down.

The rest of the Scoobies were called, and when they arrived, Faith began her explanation.

"Wesley found this prophecy that he originally thought was about Angel, but was a bit confusing.

_The undead in love with the Chosen One will shanshu, then give up this gift to save the world._

That's all it said. Not one word about a soul. But then Wesley remembered a conversation he'd had with Giles over the summer.

Giles had remarked-somewhat off-handedly-that a vampire here had been devastated by B's death. At the time, Wes thought nothing of it, but then came across the prophecy." The brunette looked almost shy, twisting her hands as she spoke with confidence she really wasn't feeling.

"Yes, there was a vampire in love with Buffy here in Sunnydale, but I'm afraid the prophecy cannot be about Spike." Giles explained to Faith.

"Spike? You mean that hottie vamp I met in the Bronze two years ago when I . . ." she cut herself off, not wanting to dredge up bad memories.

"You met him then? Wow." Dawn interjected, a little surprised.

"Yeah, I guess so. But what makes you think he can't be the one in the prophecy?" Faith asked.

"Because . . ." Buffy replied sadly, "William is dead."

That same night, there was a lightning storm. Lost in the din of the maelstrom, there was a loud noise in a crypt in a cemetary.

Leaving a dent--and what looked like a black police outline-in the concrete, a dazed and naked William the Bloody surveyed his familiar surroundings.

**_Author's Notes: Finally you all get another chapter! I tried to get it sooner, but before I wrote the memorial, I wanted to make sure I had it perfect in my head, 'cause I knew it was gonna make even _me _cry if I couldn't write it in one shot. I was surprised when it made my sister cry though. You all review and let me know what you think. There's a lot more surprises coming along, so don't stop reading yet! Thanks to all the people who've reviewed so far. You're the greatest. And, hey Nocte, how do you like it so far:)_**

_**btw, the colors of the roses are significant. Crimson is love, yellow is friendship, and I didn't know the color for sisterly/brotherly love, so I just chose pink.**_

Chapter VI

A few weeks went by, and Buffy and the Scoobies had gradually begun to trust the brunette Slayer again. Faith had been on her best behavior the whole time, and, to everyone around her, actually seemed as profusely sorry for her misdeeds as she professed.

Everyone was taking a break from research; they wanted to know why the prophecy hadn't been found before the death of the vampire it was supposedly about.

Someone had suggested that Faith and Buffy spar in the training room, and, one-by-one, the others came back-bored by the front of the store's activities-to watch. The only one left was Anya; she felt so bad about leaving the money for so long that she wouldn't let it out of her sight.

"Welcome to the Magic Box," she cheerfully called as the doorbell rang. "How can I . . . help . . . you?" She stuttered when she recognized who had walked into the shop.

"Oh. Hello." she said, once she got back her power of speech. "Long time no see."

"Yeah." The person spoke. "Giles or Buffy around?"

"In back with the others." Anya answered.

"Thanks." The familiar figure walked toward the training room in the back, opening the door, a mysterious-looking box underneath his arm.

In the back, Giles and Buffy were giving Faith some pointers on technique; she was severely out of practice since she couldn't go all-out with the other inmates during her imprisonment.

"That's it, Faith. Now, keep your guard up." Giles remarked as Buffy found a weakness in the other Slayer's defenses.

The other people in the room were mesmerized by the Slayers' duel.

Xander and Willow winced whenever either girl got hit particularly hard; they usually ended up wincing for Faith, since Buffy was decidedly more advanced and had less trouble with defense.

Tara and Dawn just stared. Tara had never seen two people who fought so well; she was usually chanting for her life while the others fought. Although she didn't really know that much about physical fighting, she could tell they were both very advanced in their skills. The witch just had a little trouble figuring out just how much better Buffy was.

Dawn had only seen one thing more mesmerizing than her sister and Faith fighting each other: her sister and Spike fighting anyone else.

Faith's lack of skill made Dawn appreciate Buffy and Spike's true "choreography" for the dance that it was. Sure, the two Slayers were good together, but Buffy and the vampire were better. Dawn was saddened to think she'd never again see the flowing ballet of virtuosos that was Spike and Buffy's deadly masterpiece.

No one noticed, at first, that the door had opened, admitting someone none of the gang had seen in a long time. No one, that is, until Buffy happened to face the door, accidentally dropping her guard when she noticed the extra body in the room.

"Oz! She cried, as Faith took advantage of the blonde's distraction, knocking her to the mat with a well-placed side kick.

Once everyone had gathered at the shop's research table again, the wayward werewolf explained his presence, but not before asking a question.

"Weren't you in a coma?" he asked, turning to Faith.

"Yeah. Woke up a couple years ago, tried to kill Buffy, saw Angel, turned myself in, got parolled, came here on Wesley's former-watcher business." was the straight-forward answer.

"Ah."

Willow interrupted. "Yeah . . . Um, so, what brings you back to good old Sunnydale, Oz?"

"Well," the young man began, preparing to speak more than he had the whole time he had lived in Sunnydale. "Me and some of the guys I travel with saw this in the house we were staying in." He began to open the box he had been carrying. "Usually, we'd pass by and think nothing of it, but one day, I walked by and felt this incredible surge of power. I came here, 'cause Giles is the only one I know who knows about mystical stuff."

The young man finished, revealing a statue shaped like a puffer fish, spines and all.

Giles took one look, and his eyes went wide.

"Dear Lord! It's Braken's Puffer! It's one of the rarest mystical items in the world! And here it was, in Oz's possession the hole time! Intriguing!"

"One of the rarest?" Buffy asked. "How rarest? Like Freyja's Strand rarest, or a little less rare?"

"Yes, like Freyja's Strand." The Watcher absentmindedly answered, cleaning his glasses.

Then, he realized that his Slayer had said something that wasn't cloaked in blonde ignorance.

"How do you know about Freyja's Strand, Buffy?"

"I was reasearching a few months ago, and I saw a picture in one of the books. It looked pretty, so I read up on it." was the simple explanation.

Extatic that Buffy had actually chosen to learn something mystical, Giles asked, "And what did you learn?"

"Just that it has powers that allow vampires to see their reflections and to put a mass in thrall." she answered. "Well, that, and the fact that it was lost when two vamps took it in the '40s from Skrymir, it's long-time guardian."

Giles smiled, the picture of fatherly pride. "Yes. Two vampires _did_ take it. In fact, you know both of them." he teased, reaching to a drawer under the counter.

He pulled out a box, opening it up and showing it to Buffy.

"Last year, before the battle with Glory, Spike gave this to me for safe keeping. It turns out that Drusilla wanted it back, but he'd seen how she could be even more dangerous than usual with it." Sighing, the older man continued.

"I had hoped to give it back to him as a sign that we trusted him enough to not use its more sinister powers, but I wanted to do it at a time that we all had come to trust him.

That time came shortly before the battle with Rack, but now he is not here to receive it. I think that you should have it, Buffy." he said, handing the box to her. "Her in the shop, any vampire can get to it, while, if kept in your possession, only two can, and one, as we all know, is unable to.

Buffy accepted the box, tears coming to her eyes, but not falling.

"Oh, Giles! Thank you." she said, giving her surrogate father a heart-felt hug.

"Ok, now that we've established that this Puffer statue is really rare," Xander interrupted, getting everyone back on track. "What does it do?"

"No one knows for certain." Anya interjected, "Not even someone as old as I am. The only thing known about it is that, once it is activated, if the right person touches it, it will change their nature somehow. And from the power surge you felt, Oz, I'd say it's been activated. I wonder who the person is." she finished enthusiastically.

"Change their nature how?" Willow asked.

"Don't know." was the answer. "The only thing I know is that it changes their nature."

"Yes. Well, Anya, thank you. You know more about it than I did. Thank you for filling us in." Giles stuttered, cleaning his glasses again.

"No problem." was the answer.

For the first time in 122 years, he was sick to his stomach. He couldn't even look at the bag of blood he was holding. Something was wrong.

It had been two weeks since he had fallen onto the crypt floor and he hadn't been able to move much farther than to his bed in the lower level since.

"Bloody Hell!" he grumbled to himself, turning to the demon who had brought him the blood. _Thank goodness _he _hadn't heard of my death yet._ Spike mused to himself before speaking.

"Can you get me a flowering onion and some buffalo wings from the Bronze? I'm not really in the mood for blood right now."

"Not a problem, pal. I'll be back later tonight. I'll have to sneak them away somehow so no one gets freaked and asks questions."

"Whatever." Spike answered, throwing the blood in his mini-fridge as the demon walked out through the sewers.

Two weeks later, Spike still got sick at the sight of the blood in his fridge. And yet, whenever he ate human food, he felt strangely satisfied by it.

One morning, William the Bloody bolted out of what had promised to be a nice day's sleep, gasping and clutching his chest.

He didn't notice the change for a few minutes; he had to catch his breath.

_Wait a minute._ He thought to himself. _I'm breathing._

Then he felt it: the subtle thumping underneath the hand clutching his chest.

"Bloody Hell!" he said aloud. "I have a sodding heartbeat!"

The last month had gone pretty uneventfully for the Scooby Gang.

They had tried to figure out who Bracken's Puffer was meant to change by allowing each customer to touch it.

Sure, they had cloaked their attempts in a sort of "contest," make the statue do something and get a prize, or something like that.

So far, no one turned out to be the person, although they did give those who tried a free candle with their purchase since they knew it would be unfair to not give anyone anything unless they made the statue react.

The gang was sitting in the Summers' living room after a long day of research when they heard a knock at the door.

"Oz, would you get that, please?" Buffy asked the closest person to the door.

"Sure." the werewolf answered, getting up to do just that.

Oz opened the door, looking to see who was outside.

When he saw, the young man's eyes widened imperceptively.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" he asked the newcomer.

The person, standing in the afternoon sunlight, heard the double entendre in the question.

"Yeah. Haven't been for a month though." was the double-answer.

"Oz? Who is it?" Buffy called from the living room.

Oz stepped aside, letting the visitor in.

When the newcomer stepped into view from the living room doorway, everyone stared.

"Hello kiddies. Looks like the Big Bad is back!" Spike said.

_**Author's Notes:**_

_**I made up Bracken's Puffer, and all it's qualities.**_

**_Freyja's Strand is a mystical object talked about in _Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids all in a Row_. My sister is reading the novel, and I just HAD to include the strand, even though I don't know what actually happened with Skrymir and stuff. This is like a sort of AU to the book... I just assumed that they got it from Skrymir. So, in case you've read the whole book, and my version is different, just say it's AU._**

_**Nocte: Yes, you read right. I made it more than a month. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you'll find out once the story is finished.) And yeah, I totally understand about the whole "no feedback" thing... I've had to do that myself. :)**_

_**Thanks for all the feedback, people! You're the greatest!**_

Chapter VII

"Spike!" Dawn squealed when she saw her best friend. She ran to give him a hug. When she heard the thumping in his chest, she asked, "Um, Spike? Did you know your heart is beating?"

"Yeah. That's the kicker. Went to sleep this morning, and woke up gasping for air." he began to explain. "Found out I could walk in the sunlight, so I came to find out how it was possible."

A thought popped into the ex-vampire's head.

"How long was I gone?"

Buffy stood as she walked toward him.

"How long have you been back?" She asked.

"A month, a week, and three days."

"Then you were gone thirty days yourself. But we've not seen you for seventy." she said, closing the gap between them and kissing him fervently.

But it was not to last, for, when Spike tried to return the kiss, Buffy broke away abruptly, punching him-just hard enough to hurt-in the nose.

"Why the Hell didn't you come here sooner?"

Meanwhile, the rest of the Scoobies, Faith included, were trying to deal with the sight before them.

Willow just stood, looked at the vampire, pointed and babbled in disbelief, then fainted dead away.

Xander, hearing Dawn's muffled comment about a heartbeat, said, "Looks like Evil Dead is not-so-dead . . . in more ways than one."

Giles was speechless.

Faith said, "Hey! I know him! I _know_ him! Now I know where I heard the name Spike before!" Obviously, Faith had been having trouble putting a face to the name when he was first mentioned by the Scoobies.

Tara just piped up, ever the usually-quiet, clever one. "So Spike," she called. "How's that muscle cramp?"

Buffy didn't get her reply, because Tara made her allusion to the joke she had shared with Spike at the Slayer's 21st birthday party.

"Look, luv . . . Why don't we sit down, and I'll explain everything, including why I haven't been around here lately." Spike quickly placated the blonde firecracker.

"So anyway," he began once everyone was seated and calm. "Here I was, staked. And guess what? I went to Limbo . . . Bloody nice, but kinda weird, place if you ask me. I honestly don't know why you wanted to go back there, Slayer-"

He was interrupted by a chorus of "huh?"s.

"Well, you see, it's like this. Buffy here, she died, right? We all know that . . . But the Powers, they _knew_ that Red here would try to bring her back, them being omnipotent and all that.

Well, she couldn't be brought back from Heaven, only this Limbo place between Heaven and Hellmouth. You did say you _thought_ you were in Heaven, right, luv? Well, it was nice in Limbo . . . just like you described it . . . but it wasn't nearly as nice as they said Heaven was.

Although, they did have "Limbo Night" every Tuesday." Spike couldn't help making a joke.

No one laughed. They were waiting for him to finish . . . a new experience for the now-ex-vampire.

"Well, uh, yeah. So, I'm in Limbo, and, all of a sudden, I'm not anymore. Next thing I know, I'm lying starkers on the crypt floor-which, mind you, left a pretty big dent, not to mention the black police-outline looking thing-and can barely move enough to get downstairs to bed."

He was about to finish his tale, when Buffy interrupted.

"Wait, black police-outline looking thing?" She turned to the original Scoobs, including Faith and Giles. "Does that sound familiar to any of you?"

"Yeah." Xander answered. "It sounds like the same thing we found in the man . . . sion . . ."

"Wow." Willow and Dawn said.

Everyone else was still confused. Giles asked Buffy to clear the air a little.

"Just like when Angel came back after Acathla."

"Ok, now, that's bloody weird." Spike remarked, before finishing his tale.

"Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I haven't been able to get out of bed for the past five-and-a-half weeks.

I've felt Buffy every night, but, by the time I got enough strength to go to the door, she was already gone.

I had to get Clem to do my grocery shopping for me. He was a little skeptical when I wouldn't drink the blood he brought me after three weeks of it, but went along with it when I kept asking for human food.

Then, this morning, I go to have a nice day's rest, and, not more than an hour later, I wake up gasping, with a heartbeat. After that, I found that my strength had returned, and, testing out my sunlight theory, came to you lot for help figuring out just what the Bloody Hell happened to me."

"I know what happened." Faith spoke up.

Everyone looked at her skeptically.

_"The vampire in love with the Chosen One will shanshu then give up this gift to save the world._ Don't you see? Oh, wait . . . I forgot to explain . . . so, I guess you don't see." She started.

"Well, it goes like this. Wesley has deducted that _shanshu_ either means "die," or it means "live," which could also be translated as "be human." I guess, in this case, it means both translations." Faith looked very proud of herself for beating Giles to an explanation.

"Of course!" Giles exclaimed. "We all just believed it would not come to pass . . . when, in fact, Spike's death was necessary to start the process. But I'm confused as to the second part of the prophecy."

"Aren't we all?" broke in Spike. "There's really a prophecy about me? You sure it's not about the L.A. poof?"

"Yes, Wesley was fairly certain. The prophecy doesn't mention anything about a soul." the brunette Slayer explained.

Everyone digested the information they had absorbed and planned to meet at the Magic Shop the next day for an even more intense research session than the ones they'd been having lately. Buffy told the group that she'd meet them there after her shift at the Palace, and that Dawn would meet them there after school.

Tired and overwhelmed, the reunited Scooby Gang, minus three, went to their various homes and beds.

The next day at the Magic Box, everyone, except for Buffy and Dawn, was waiting for Spike as they pored over various and sundry ancient texts, searching for clues about the prophecy.

When Spike walked in, everyone looked up in annoyance at his tardiness.

"Sorry all . . . not used to gettin' up in the morning. I kinda slept in." was his excuse.

Then, he saw the statue sitting on a lock-able pedestal on the counter.

"Well, I'll be buggered! Is that Bracken's Puffer?!?" he said, running an appreciative hand over the carved mahogany.

"Yeah," Faith answered. "Oz-"

She was interrupted by Spike's surprised scream of pain.

"Ow! The thing bloody bit me!" he said, startling everyone out of their research.

Everyone stared at their long-time ally and friend.

"What?" he asked. "It doesn't usually do that?"

"Um, Spike . . . maybe you should look in a mirror." Willow supplied.

Spike did as suggested, eyes widening in horror when he saw a green, spiny demon face staring back at him.

"Bloody Hell! I'm a Bracken Demon!" he exclaimed. "Uh oh."

"'Uh oh'? That doesn't sound good." Xander said. "What's 'uh oh' mean?"

Spike answered, a bit confused, but even more horrified than before. "I think I'm turning into Dru too . . . I just had some sort of vision."

Anya, ever the cheerful optimist, said, "Well, I guess we know what 'changing their nature' means . . . and who the person was."

"Yeah." Faith said. "And now I know what the prophecy means."

_**Author's Notes:**_

_**Hehe, two chapters in less than 24 hours!**_

**_As to the plot . . . How do you like _them _apples?_**

**_Yes, I actually had to go back and count the number of weeks and days I said after Spike died and was brought back . . . You can't expect me to remember _everything _I write, can you:)_**

_**Hey Nocte, how's two changes in the same fic?**_

_**Thanks to Sinister Chick Heather Martin, Sass Angel, Nos, Nocte, Isabelle, and everyone else who's reviewed my fics so far . . . you guys are great!**_


	3. Chapter Eight Through the Challenge

Problems and Solutions--Chapter VIII to Challenge

Chapter VIII

A few hours later, everyone had pretty much calmed down; Faith wanted to wait until Buffy got there to explain what she knew. Spike was still sporting spines; they just wouldn't go away.

"Hey! I have an idea!" the others could almost see the lightbulb flashing over Willow's head as she stood up and paced, wringing her hands in explanatory nervousness.

"Spike used to be a vampire, right? Well, we all know that, so I won't go into it . . . But, what if you did what you did to get rid of your vamp face? Maybe that'll get rid of the Bracken face too . . ."

Willow trailed off, realizing she had been babbling again. Oz--although he didn't show it--thought to himself _Same old Willow . . ._ Tara smiled at the redhead's idiosyncracies . . . she couldn't get enough of Willow.

Spike broke in, excitedly interrupting the witch and werewolf's thoughts.

"Now, why didn't _I_ think of that?" concentrating, Spike pictured the face he had briefly seen in a mirror at the Summers' home the night before, and the other breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw the face that they had all come to label as "friendly."

"You'd think that after 124 years as a vampire, I'd know how to get rid of a non-human face." He walked over to the table chuckling as he pecked Willow on the cheek, startling her. "Thanks, Red."

Willow eeped at his affectionate display.

"Y-You're wel-welcome, Spike." she stuttered, blushing and nervously fiddling with the pen she had been using to take notes a few hours before. Before the halt that all the research went through a few hours ago, anyway.

Just then, Dawn walked in, Buffy not far behind. The younger Summers, still in shock at seeing the peroxided ex-vampire again, sat across the table from him, staring discreetly in his direction from time-to-time as though she feared he'd be gone again if she didn't check.

Buffy, however, knew from personal experiences that that kind of behavior made one uncomfortable, so she sat on the counter next to where Spike was leaning and rested her head on her now-living lover's shoulder. Her gesture of affection surprised Spike to no end.

"'Allo, Luv. Thought you had to work late." he said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I did, but it was really slow so I asked if I could go early." she replied softly.

"Thought you needed the money," he replied, just as softly.

"I do, but I haven't seen you in months and couldn't wait any longer." she put her arms around Spike's waist and snuggled closer, surprising him even more.

Spike gulped. Before he could question the Slayer's actions, however, Giles finally noticed that the Summers women had arrived.

No one else had said anything when Buffy cuddled up to Spike out of respect for the revelation she had made at the memorial. They had made a silent agreement to give the pair a couple minutes to talk, but now that Giles was ready, that time was up.

"Ah, good." the Watcher began. "Buffy, apparently, we've found out not only what the prophesy means, but also what Bracken's Puffer does, and to whom."

"Wow." Buffy blinked. "That was fast. I was thinking I'd have to do at least the tail end of the research, but--goody for me--it's all done . . . So, what did you find?"

"Well," Willow interjected, "we didn't so much _find_ anything, as much as it kinda already happened . . . And Faith knows the how's and huh's, so I'll just let her take it from there."

"Ooo-kee . . . Faith, whatcha got?" Buffy was getting an eerie "I-might-not-like-this" feeling in the back of her mind.

"Alright. I already told you what the first part of the prophecy meant, so I'll just skip on to the second." the younger Slayer began.

"This part of the prophecy is a lot more vague because it doesn't tell how or what was going to happen, only why--to save the world.

The how is that magic puffer fish thing sitting up on the counter. The what is Spike isn't human anymore--again."

"'Isn't' as in 'already happened?' And Spike was the one to get changed? How?" confused, Buffy tightened her hold on Spike's waist, afraid for the worst.

"Well, for one, he's a Bracken demon hybrid now . . . show her, Blondie." Buffy lifted her head to see what Spike had to show her, eyes widening when he brought the spines to the surface.

"Cool!" Dawn exclaimed--she had been staring at just that moment, and caught the face change. "Cooler than the vamp face!"

Buffy was speechless.

"You alright, Luv?" Spike asked, concerned as he brought his human mask back to the foreground.

Shaking her head to clear it, Buffy reached behind her head, unclasping the seemingly unbendable strand of gold she had been wearing for weeks. "I guess you won't be needing this anymore then . . . but I'll give it back to you anyway," she whispered, handing him Freyja's strand.

Spike's eyes widened and twinkled with the love he had for this woman who would trust him with such a powerful--and, in the wrong hands, dangerous--item. He couldn't wait to talk to her alone; he had so many questions about the time he had been gone.

Buffy got back on track, turning to Faith with another question. "And somehow, a spiney face is supposed to save the world?"

"There's more." Faith said mysteriously. "Just after seeing his demon reflection, Spike mentioned having a vision of some sort . . . What did you see, Spike?"

"I saw some bloke . . . dark hair, part Bracken like me now, looked kinda familiar too . . . don't know why. Then, I saw the Cheerleader . . . After that, just a jumble of flashes."

"Cheerleader?" Faith wasn't familiar with the blonde's naming system; she hadn't been around him long enough yet.

"Cordelia." Buffy answered, eyes widening.

She hurried over to the phone, dialing a number while everyone looked on, confused by her sudden action.

"Cordy? It's Buffy . . . Yeah, it's good to hear from you too . . . Anyway, I have a question. That guy that you used to work with, the Irish one? . . . Was that his name? . . . Oh, okay. Anyway, was he part-demon? . . . He was? What kind? . . . Okay, thanks, Cordy . . . No, that was it . . . I'll let you know what's going on when I find out myself. Tell Angel and Wes 'Hi' from me. See ya . . . Bye."

The Slayer hung the phone back on its cradle as Spike and the others looked on, the light of recognition in their eyes becoming brighter and brighter by the second.

"You see where I'm getting at now, B?" Faith asked as the other Slayer settled back into her place beside Spike.

Buffy nodded somewhat woodenly.

"Alright. Now, for the rest of us, who have only figured out some of the situation, would one of you mind explaining?" Giles asked.

"B?" Faith conceded the "floor."

Her face hidden by Spike's torso, Buffy mumbled, loud enough for everyone else to hear, "Doyle had visions, which he gave to Cordelia. He was part demon--part _Bracken_ demon. The visions help Angel to save people. The only thing I can guess is that Spike's future visions will help us to save the world."

"Exactly." Faith agreed. "And therein lies the prophecy."

"But what are we saving the world from this time?" Giles was always thorough in his questioning.

Just then Spike spoke up. "Uh oh."

"Is that a good 'uh oh,' or a bad 'uh oh?' 'Cause last time you said that, it wasn't as bad as we thought." Xander asked.

"Don't know whether it's good or bad, but expect a visit--during the day, so it won't be tonight--from Johnathan . . . Looks like he's gonna be running for his life."

"Well, whatever events are gonna end the world, I guess they've started." Dawn interjected.

"Yeah, but what do we do about it for now?" the blonde Slayer asked.

"What you always do, B." Faith answered. "Find a way to save it."

**_Author's Notes: To all of you who were confused... Is it starting to come together yet? Some have mentioned that the reactions to Spike's return were a bit "Down-played"... Well, it was all so sudden, and I _did _have Willow faint... I was just trying to add a little bit of humor too (I guess that part didn't come across the way I had intended)... anyway, Buffy's BIG reaction comes later... once she's had a chance to deal... which probably means in the next chapter or two--or AFTER they save the world... you never know with me. :) I hope that clears everything up for now._**

Chapter IX

True to form–or at least Spike's new visions–Jonathan was found pounding on the Summers' door the next day.

"Hurry up and get in here, Jonathan, before whatever you're running from catches up!" Buffy chided as she flung the door open, not even bothering to check his identity.

Gasping for breath, the poor guy walked in, panting. "How-How d-did you know it was me?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you . . . Let's just say we knew you were coming last night."

"Ad you're not killing me, so I-I-I guess you know I'm switching sides, huh?"

"The not killing part remains to be seen." Spike spooked the young man, walking up behind him.

Jonathan jumped back, eyes widening in fear and incomprehension. "A-A-Aren't . . . I mean, haven't you ben d-d-dead?"

"And how the whelp knows that when he ran away like a nancy-boy before it happened, I, for one, would like to know–later." He said, then turned to face Jonathan once more. "Right now, why are you here, shrimp?"

"Before I tell you, I have to do something real quick . . ." the young man was followed through the house, the ex-vampire and the Slayer's eyes widening when he pulled cameras from various places in the house and yard. "Smash these. Warren and the others have been watching you for months. You'll find more in the Magic Box, Spike's crypt, Xander's apartment, and Tara's place, as well as Giles' old apartment and hotel room," he explained as the blondes did just that.

"Alright, now what?" Buffy asked, impressed by Jonathan's show of integrity.

"Warren is insane." Both Slayer and former-vampire snorted at the same time. "But Rack is even worse. He's threatening things of apocalyptic proportions. If Willow isn't brought to him within the week, Rack threatens to open a portal and summon–"

"--What? _Two_ hellgods?" Spike couldn't help but laugh at Buffy's flip comment, even though the mention of her last demise still tugged at the ex-vampire's heartstrings.

"No, not quite _that_ apocalyptic, but bad nonetheless . . . Listen, I know you'll want everyone else here to hear this, and I really don't wanna repeat it, so could you please just call them . . . I'll tell you where they can find the various cameras, and then I'll explain what I know, okay?" the young man was starting to feel all the stress he'd been bottling up since Katrina's murder, and he needed a few minutes to pull himself together. "Please. I haven't slept in three days . . . I promise to explain, but I could really use somewhere to rest."

Buffy's eyes softened at the young man's bravery to do what he'd just done. "Alright. Go lie on the couch, I'll call the others, and then you _better_ explain," she was a Slayer, not a philanthropist . . . it was nice enough–to her–that she was letting him sit at all.

An emergency Scooby Meeting was called once everyone had destroyed the cameras.

The two slayers, one former vampire, on werewolf, one watcher, one ex-vengence demon, two witches–one practicing, one not,–one key, one puny, scared human, and one Zeppo all crammed into the Summers' living room a few hours later.

It was a tight fit.

Buffy sat on Spike's lap in the armchair–she still hadn't had much of a chance to be alone with him yet–with Dawn sitting on the arm, her head resting on Spike's shoulder.

Oz and Willow sat on the couch, Tara in between them.

Anya and Xander sat against the wall, still leery about getting too close, but sitting next to each other nonetheless.

Faith stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, and Jonathan cowered on the floor in the middle of the room, knees pulled up to his chest, held by his arms as he recounted the happenings of the last few months from his point of view.

"Well, the three of us–Warren, Andrew, and I–were all sitting around doin' nothing and we decided to take over Sunnydale. We did a few things to rile up everyone–at the time it was like a game–it still was, even after Spike's visit-"

"-Spike's WHAT?!?!?" Buffy and Xander said at the same time.

"_Thanks,_ you bloody wanker!" the ex-vampire glared at the young man, who had reverted to cowering when the yelling began again.

Spike turned to the blonde Slayer.

"It was just before the whole 'frost monster' thing happened . . . remember the muggers?" Buffy nodded. "Well, I had to make sure it still worked, 'cause I knew that if it didn't and you found out, I was buggered whether I'd hurt anyone or not, so I went to 'bot boy to get it checked out, and that's when I realized it only didn't work on you."

Filing that information into the ever-filling box in her head labeled "To Discuss Later–_AFTER_ the Big, Mushy Scene," Buffy nodded her understanding, not taking her gaze off of Spike's as she motioned for the man–who was still in so many ways a boy–on the floor to continue.

"After Katrina was--you know--killed, it wasn't a game to me anymore. And, to top it all off, Warren wanted to 'kill two birds with one stone' and blame Buffy for the murder-"

"-Been there, done that, didn't work." Faith interjected. When everyone started to stare at her, she quickly recovered. "What? It's not like I'd do it now!"

"It's alright, Faith. We trust you . . . Just, please, no more comments like that." Giles stated.

"Yeah, they give me the wiggins." Buffy shivered, gesturing for Jonathan to continue again.

"Anyway, long story short, Warren made me tell him about Rack after that one battle, and you wiped the floor with us again in the next one. Now, Rack is planning on opening a portal to a dimension very similar to the one that Vampire Willow came from that one year, but not quite the same."

"How did you know about her?" Willow asked, intrigued.

"I was playing wall flower in the Bronze that night, and, after I figured out about Buffy's calling and stuff, I just figured that that was the case," was the simple answer.

"Just how is this dimension different, or similar to Vampire Willow's?" Giles cut to the chase. "And how do you know?"

"How do I know? That's easy. Every dimension has a name–sometimes two or more–I just looked up this dimension's name after I overheard a conversation between Rack and Warren, and cast a spell to be able to see between dimensions . . . Had spontaneous nosebleeds for three days afterward too.

As for similarities and differences to the other dimension, that's where it starts to get bad. In the Anti-Pupilomus Dimension–that's its name–Angelus never got his soul, and that's not the half of it.

Angelus, the Master, Darla, Drusilla, Vampire Willow, Vampire Xander, and Spike, in that universe, all held the Slayer before Buffy captive and tortured her to the point of dying. Then, just before the previous slayer died, they killed that Buffy before she could be called. There was no Slayer in Sunnydale.

The Powers that Be, meanwhile, knowing that Glory would show up in that dimension as well, had the monks make the Key human early–too early. She showed up in Sunnydale just as Buffy was killed and the other Slayer died. Joyce was found, beaten, and ultimately killed in that dimension."

"And the Key?" Giles asked softly, voicing everyone else's question.

"Alone in Sunnydale, with no family, that Dawn was captured by the Master's group and tortured for four years. She was turned on her eighteenth 'birthday.' It is these eight vampires that will be summoned by Rack when he opens the portal."

Everyone started chattering at once, then Spike noticed that Jonathan had more to say.

"EVERYBODY, QUIET!" he got their attention. "The whelp has more to say."

"T-T-Thank you." the young man stuttered.

"I've managed to steal one of the key ingredients to Rack's spell," he pulled three gold coins from his pocket. "They're relatively easy to find, but it'll take a few days for Rack to get more from his source. If Rack is stopped before he can find more coins, then the portal will not open. If he is, there is a loophole that Rack doesn't know about that will help to defeat them all."

"What _kind_ of loophole?" Xander was getting impatient; he was tired of being cramped in the living room.

"The Powers in that dimension have linked that Slayer to the eight vampires. If they come through the portal, she will be pulled here as well. Rack doesn't know this, so, either way, there is a possibility to defeat them all . . . provided they can be found," Jonathan explained.

"Three Slayers, three times the fun." Faith quipped. "Who will the other Slayer be, anyway?"

"Whoever was called after Buffy, I would assume," Jonathan answered.

"Kendra." Xander, Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Spike all said at once.

"And what do you mean, _if they can be found?_" Buffy demanded. "Wouldn't they just show up at the Hellmouth? That is where he'll be casting the spell, correct?"

"Yes, he's going to cast there, but the portal will move in rapid succession in this dimension. There's no telling where any of them will show up, but it would most likely be in places that they've each been before, and each vampire will not necessarily have been to the place they end up at, but one of the others WILL have been there. They _should_ all show up in Sunnydale, though, so it would be relatively easy to find them" the young man finished his explanation.

"Okay, we need to come up with a plan. Do you know where Rack's hiding out, Jonathan?" Buffy started to get down to business.

"Hold on, Luv. I think it's too late. The spell's been cast . . . Last night, I would expect. Seems Rack had extra ingredients." Spike interjected.

"How do you know, Spike?" Giles queried.

"Just had a vision. We don't need to worry about finding Darla." he chuckled. "She ended up burning in the Sahara as soon as she got to this dimension."

Buffy quickly came up with a plan.

"Alright. We need to find everyone and kill them while they're still separated. Giles, you go to the mansion, Spike, you've got the factory, Xander you've got your parents' basement. Anya, see if anyone's shown up in Xander's apartment. Wills, Tara, I need you to go to the Hellmouth and stop Rack from doing anything else. I'll take Bronze duty. Dawn, you stay here with Faith and Jonathan. Once you've checked everywhere, meet back here and we'll find out who's still not dead." Everyone jumped to get car keys and coats as the blonde Slayer gave her orders.

"Buffy-"

"-Not now, Dawn. I know you can help, but it would be faster if you just stayed here. There's no where for you to watch, and you haven't had enough training yet. Next time, maybe, but it depends on how far away that is. Ok? But please, don't fight me on this right now," the Key nodded her acquiescence, going to the kitchen to get some food.

"Faith, if any of them show up here . . ."

"I know, B. I won't let them get her, I'll die first."

Starting to get choked up by the sincerity in the brunette's tone, Buffy couldn't respond. Instead, she grabbed her coat and walked out in the direction of the Bronze.

Her trip to the apartment fruitless, Anya headed toward Xander's parents' basement. She saw her ex-fiancé through the window, staking the vampire Willow, and ran inside to help in case another of the vampires had been dumped there.

Xander was having a little trouble with himself–literally. The Anti-Pupilomus Vampire Xander was wigging the human Zeppo . . . he couldn't stake himself.

Seeing Xander's predicament, Anya grabbed the stake from him and, while Xander distracted "himself," she plunged the stake into the vampire's chest.

Seeing no other vampires–from this dimension, or otherwise–Anya and Xander headed back to Revelo Drive.

"You're all wrong!" Drusilla said when she saw Spike walk through the doors of the abandoned church. "Your blood sings off key."

"Sorry, Baby." Spike said, unapologetically as he quickly got behind his ex's dopplegänger. He plunged the stake into her breastbone, quipping as the dust fell, "I never did like singing for you."

Job done, Spike headed to Buffy's house, glad he didn't have to stake this dimension's Drusilla . . . that one, even though he wasn't in love with his Sire anymore, was hard enough.

Confident that he knew which vampire would show up at the mansion, Giles carried a bag of supplies, revenge on his mind.

"Well, if it isn't the watcher!" Angelus exclaimed.

"Angelus," was the cool reply.

Quickly casting a paralyzation spell,–leftover from his Ripper days–Giles chained Angelus to a chair.

Grabbing the bag, the Watcher pulled a chainsaw from its depths, ready to have some fun with the double of the bastard who had killed his love.

About two hours later, Giles walked back to his charge's home, one sentence ringing in his mind: Revenge is so sweet.

Buffy, marveling at the lessons she'd picked up over her years with Angel and Spike, lurked in the shadows of the Bronze.

"No!" she whispered to herself when she saw the vampire she'd have to kill.

Afraid she couldn't go through with it, she tentatively walked up behind the vampire version of her sister, nervous quip at the ready.

When the other Dawn turned around in game face, Buffy knew she'd have no trouble staking her.

After the dust settled, Buffy swiped it off her clothes and headed home.

Willow and Tara, having heard fighting in the old, burnt up library, ran toward the Hellmouth.

They found Kendra fighting Rack with all her might, and decided to help.

Tara knelt and cast the most powerful, yet good, spell she knew, trying to take him off guard.

Willow joined the African Slayer in the physical fight, knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to try and argue later with the casting witch about using her powers only for good.

In no time, Rack was dead, decapitated by the sword Kendra had brought with her.

The three walked triumphantly to the Summers' house, the witches leading the way.

Once everyone had found their way back to the house, Buffy took stock.

"Okay, who's dead? I got Vamp Dawn in the Bronze," she shivered, remembering the shock of seeing fangs and ridges on her sister's facial duplicate.

"Vamps Willow and Xander were in the basement." Anya quipped. "No one was at the apartment, and Xander had a little trouble staking himself."

Xander blushed, embarrased, and the inventory continued.

"Dru in the factory," Spike added. "And, next time, Slayer, you do it. I may not be in love with the bint, but she is my Sire." Buffy nodded in understanding. She knew how hard the task must have been for her lover.

With a smug look on his face, Giles said, "Angelus is well and done for. I found him in the mansion. Good thing I kept the chainsaw from that haunted house party a few years back."

Spike smirked. "Ripper! I didn't know you had it in you!" That was a lie. He had seen the Watcher's capabilities when he had stood up to Angelus' torture four years before.

Willow, from the living room doorway, said, "W-W-Well, Rack is dead. And we found Kendra."

Tara, walking past her former lover, led the African girl into the room. "She hadn't ever met Buffy in her dimension, so I thought it might be nice to introduce everybody all at once."

"Good idea, Tara. Hello, Kendra. I am Giles. You may not know any of us at the moment, but we in this dimension, knew another you. The blonde slayer is Buffy, your predecessor, and the brunette, Faith, the one who was called after your double. The werewolf is Oz. The witches, whom you've met already, are Tara and Willow. This is Spike, as you probably know, but he's not to be slain in this dimension-"

"-Thanks for that, Rupes." the peroxide blonde interjected.

"Quite welcome . . . Now, who else is left? Ah yes. The young man here is Jonathan, then Anya, the ex-vengeance demon, and Xander sitting next to her. The girl sitting with Spike and Buffy is Dawn, Buffy's younger sister. Did I miss anyone?"

Everyone waved or said "Hi." as the Watcher made the introductions.

"Okay, that's six piles of dust, and one extra slayer. Who are we missing?" Buffy got everyone back on track.

"I believe it's the Master and the other Spike." Giles replied.

"Alright, Faith, Kendra, why don't you see if either of them are in the abandoned church. Spike, you and I are going to your crypt. Everyone else, wait here."

Dispatching the last two vampires had been relatively easy, with two super-strong fighters against each. The four had returned to the house relatively unscathed, and now were just trying to figure out a way to get everything back to the way it should be.

"All we need is a way to send you back, and then close the portal." Dawn spoke up, directing her comment to Kendra.

"I do not wish to go back. I have nothing there." Kendra said.

"Very well. We will have to find a way that will work. Your staying here could have dire repercussions on the space-time continuum. We will need to find a way to counteract those consequences."

"I know how to close the portal." Jonathan said. "It's a spell similar to the one Rack used to open it, and, since I stole the coins for that spell, we have the key ingredient for the closing spell as well."

"Looks like it's research mode to find a way for Kendra to stay." Buffy said as they all filed out the door toward the Magic Box, and Giles' book collection.

Epilogue

The solution to Kendra's problem was not as complex as they had imagined. Just a simple modification to the portal closing spell.

It had been three weeks, and everyone was glad that things had finally died down. Warren and Andrew were found and imprisoned. The gang saw fit to put in a good word for Jonathan, he was let go the day after the police took him away, and made an official Scooby when he helped them in the magic department so that Willow could fully recover from her addiction.

Kendra, who was staying with Faith in a motel until they could find places of their own–and after Kendra could find a job, was happier than she'd ever been in her home dimension.

And Buffy had finally found time to be with Spike. He had been pleasantly shocked–despite all the hints and clues she'd been dropping with her behavior toward him–when, after an amazing welcome back "shag session," she had said the four words he'd never hoped to hear from her: "I love you, Spike."

_**Author's Notes: It's done! It's finally done! Now I can start on some other fics!**_

**The Challenge-As Posted By Nocte**

_Requirements:_

Set story sometime in Season Six.

Spike dies and is brought back.

Buffy brings about Spike's demise inadvertently, you decide how.

The PTB bring Spike back for a reason, you decide how and why.

Spike returns as something other than a vampire or still a vampire but different somehow.

One month goes by before the Scoobies and Buffy learn Spike is alive, you decide why.

Show Xander, Willow, and Buffy's reactions to Spike's death and resurrection.

Include a fight scene.

Include a Big Bad.

Follow through on PTB's reason for sending Spike back.

_Please Include Reference to:_

Mr. Pointy

A glass of V8 juice

Three gold coins

A silver medallion

A yellow knit afghan

A biblical quote

_You can end the story with a Buffy/Spike pairing or not, it's your fic!_

**Author's note: I consider my Little Bad the Troika, and my Big Bad Rack.**


End file.
